The Dedalus Book of English Decadence : Vile Emperors and Elegant Degenerates

Cover; Title; The Editor; Acknowledgements; Contents; Introduction; 1 Taedium Vitae; 2 Passages from the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; 3 Lines Written During a Period of Insanity; 4 Extract from Vathek; 5 Darkness; 6 A Dream; 7 Passages from the Story of Prince Alasi and the Princess Firouzkah; 8 Verses from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: A Romaunt; 9 On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery; 10 Verses from Endymion: A Poetic Romance; 11 Verses from the Giaour; 12 Extract from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater; 13 Song; 14 Verses from Lamia.;The most wide-ranging & important collection of English decadence. Cover Title The Editor Acknowledgements Contents Introduction 1 Taedium Vitae 2 Passages from the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 3 Lines Written During a Period of Insanity 4 Extract from Vathek 5 Darkness 6 A Dream 7 Passages from the Story of Prince Alasi and the Princess Firouzkah 8 Verses from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: A Romaunt 9 On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery 10 Verses from Endymion: A Poetic Romance 11 Verses from the Giaour 12 Extract from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater 13 Song 14 Verses from Lamia. 15 Thoughts During Sickness II. Sickness Like Night16 Tithonus 17 Body's Beauty 18 Verses from Anactoria 19 Extract from the Conclusion to Studies in the History of the Renaissance 20 If You're Anxious for to Shine in the High Aesthetic Line from Patience 21 Dolores (Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs) 22 Hélas! 23 Passages from Confessions of a Young Man 24 Nightmare from the City of Dreadful Night 25 Passages from Lesbia Brandon 26 Passages from Denys L'auxerrois 27 Extract from the Picture of Dorian Gray 28 A Last Word 29 The Absinthe-Drinker 30 Passages from the Cultured Faun. 31 The Decadent to His Soul32 Passages from a Defence of Cosmetics 33 Dregs 34 Nihilism 35 The Opium-Smoker 36 Passages from the Great God Pan 37 Poem 38 Ennui 39 Passages from Enoch Soames 40 Stella Maris 41 Orchids 42 Passages from the Story of Venus and Tannhauser 43 The Barber 44 The Destroyer of a Soul 45 Lucretia 46 Extract from the Dead Wall 47 Passion 48 Against My Lady Burton: On Her Burning the Last Writing of Her Dead Husband 49 In Bohemia Appendix: English Decadence Elsewhere Copyright. Vile emperors, reptiles and elegant degenerates of 1890s England surface as the Empire demonstrates that, like imperial Rome, the English could not run the world without becoming corrupt. In a response to the invention of the French, the English immersed themselves in luxury and decadence, documented by the likes of Byron, De Quincy and Wilde. This is an exploration of the perverse by acolytes and avatars at their most unwholesome.' DT in Buzz Magazine The Dedalus Book of English Decadence is a brilliant collection of hothouse prose including some names not usually associated with the fin de siecle. Independent on Sunday's Books of the Year